Mexican shingle bows genre distribution label

The launch of the genre division comes as Canana is eying extending its new VOD distribution operation, Canana on Demand, to Central America, Cruz said Sunday in Berlin, where Canana presents Berlinale Special “Revolucion,” an omnibus of shorts analyzing the impact of the Mexican Revolution in contempo Mexico.

Tangente rolls off the runaway success of Thomas Alfredson’s “Let the Right One In,” which Canana distributed.

The label will not ply simple shockfests, Cruz said.

Indeed, most of Tangente’s first five pickups saw major mainstream fest play: “The Horde,” a groundbreaking cult Gallic zombie film was produced by Jean Labadie’s upscale Paris shingle Le Pacte and seen in Venice Days; Norwegian Erik Poppe’s “Troubled Water,” a child murderer/grieving mother drama, won Hamptons’ main Golden Starfish competition. Helmed by South Korea’s Park Chan-wook, “Thirst” played Cannes official competition last year.

“The titles are not just pure horror. They have a little bit of something,” Cruz said.

Horror label is also a way of connecting with Mexico’s savviest techie demos as Canana pushes VOD service Canana on Demand.

Launched last July with Jonas Cuaron’s “The Year of the Nail,” Canana on Demand attempts to address a drastic lack of arthouses throughout Mexico. Many artpic titles either see no theatrical release in Mexico or play just a week in theaters.

“We’re really pushing VOD. It’s the future in terms of how people will consume the films we make and buy,” Cruz said. With Canana on Demand kicking in, Canana has hiked film buys for Mexico from 10 titles to 15 a year, he said.